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The President of the UN General Assembly Expresses His Appreciation for the Work Done by JSC “Latvia's State Forests"

From 21 to 23 July, Abdulla Shahid, the President of the UN General Assembly and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, visited Latvia for the first time. During his visit, he also met with the Chairman of the Board of JSC “Latvia's State Forests” (LVM) Arnis Melnis and visited the LVM Mazsili Tree Nursery.

During the meeting, the Chairman of the Board of LVM and the company's employees shared their experience on sustainable forest management, presented the international nature protection projects implemented by LVM, as well as company's information technology solutions for ensuring sustainable forest management. Also, during the visit, Abdulla Shahid got to know the spacious LVM Mazsili Tree Nursery, where 16 million high-quality forest saplings are grown every year, getting to know both how the new pine trees and Christmas trees sprout, as well as their packaging line and storage.

“I am honoured for the opportunity to present to Mr. Abdulla Shahid how the State of Latvia sustainably manages its forests, thus making a significant contribution both to mitigating the impact of climate change and promoting the use of local resources in mitigating the energy crisis. I was surprised about the many interesting and professional questions raised during the visit, and I am grateful for the high assessment of our company's work by our distinguished guest,” says Arnis Melnis, Chairman of the LVM Board.

Abdulla Shahid, the President of the UN General Assembly, shares his experience after getting acquainted with the State forest management in Latvia and one of the most state-of-the-art tree nurseries in the Baltic Sea region: “I am surprised by Latvia's success in forestry! Usually, when I travel around the world, I see that in many countries the area of forest is decreasing as the forests are converted to agricultural lands. But today I found out that it is the other way around in Latvia – in the last 100 years you have doubled your forest area! Climate change mitigation is one of the most important global challenges of today and I am really pleased to see how much the forest industry can do in this area. The tree seedlings grown in the State forests of Latvia, when they are planted into the forest and grow rapidly, will start photosynthesis, this globally important process, as a result of which carbonic acid gas will be collected from the atmosphere, keeping the carbon in the wood, and releasing the oxygen back into the earth's atmosphere.”

Abdulla Shahid visited Latvia to discuss current UN and regional issues such as the global security situation, the international impact of Russia's war in Ukraine, sustainable development, and climate issues, as well as bilateral relations between Latvia and the Maldives.